


Shut the Eff Up

by camerasparring



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Coming Out, Established Relationship, Ficlet, Fluff, Kissing, M/M, Post-IT Chapter Two (2019), Secret Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-15
Updated: 2020-04-15
Packaged: 2021-03-01 16:48:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23670328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/camerasparring/pseuds/camerasparring
Summary: Three months in, Eddie wants to keep their relationship secret. Richie's fine, he's... he's totally fine with that. Kind of. Almost.
Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Comments: 10
Kudos: 205





	Shut the Eff Up

**Author's Note:**

> A request from Bucky on Twitter!

Bev swirls a finger around the countertop in the kitchen, and Richie can hear it coming from a mile away. He even slips a stare over to Eddie, but he’s just leaned back in a chair, arms crossed behind his head, laughing with Ben, innocent as ever, that dynamic, sweet little baby deer. Richie can hardly be mad.

“Have you thought about dating at all?” Bev asks. 

Richie tries not to roll his eyes. He knows she’s just trying to help.

But the fact that she hasn’t noticed how head-over-heels happy he is, and has been, for the past three months, is a little blind-siding. Bev’s usually on top of this shit. Then again, she’s currently spending most of her time on top of Ben (at least Richie assumes, he tries not to picture it, they’re his friends and that seems disrespectful, though he’s blissfully happy for both of them, especially since he started getting laid, too), so maybe she’s distracted. 

Eddie and Richie are _living together_ after all. Been that way for months since he visited Eddie in New York and then sort of… never left. He felt bad about it at first, not giving him space to come into his own following the divorce, and he kind of _still_ feels bad, since Eddie insists on keeping it quiet from everyone until the divorce is final. And everyone includes all their best friends. 

Richie never argues. Because Eddie is _terrible_ at secrets, and more importantly, he gets off on the thrill of hiding. So instead of focusing on the fact that he can’t tell the closest people in his life about the best thing that’s possibly ever happened to him, he focuses on the massive amount of sex it affords him in secret, dirty places like public restrooms and coat rooms and one very special time, the utility closet of a boat after Bill took them to a book party on a fucking cruise liner. 

“No, no, I don’t think I’m ready for all that,” Richie finally answers, and Bev looks like she wants to start something but thinks better of it. 

“Just let me know if you ever are,” she tells him. She puts a gentle hand on his arm. He feels awful. 

“I’m gonna- I gotta head to the bathroom,” he says, turning to go when Eddie catches his eye and follows after him. 

Richie tries to close the door on him, but Eddie is strong and Richie is a dumbass, and it isn’t until he’s shoved headfirst into the back of a dark closet does he remember this isn’t the bathroom at all. 

“Ow, _Eds_ ,” Richie exclaims, already nursing what he assumes will be a blossoming bruise at the back of his head. 

Eddie’s eyes bore heat into him. 

“Are you okay?” he whispers, poking a finger into Richie’s chest.

“No! I hit my fucking head ‘cause you shoved me into a closet!”

“You were already on your way in here-”

“I was going to the bathroom but I got turned around.”

“There are _two_ doors in this hallway, and you’ve been here several times.”

Richie scoffs. “What the fuck, are _you_ okay?” 

Eddie fists hands in Richie’s collar and pulls him down for a rough and messy kiss. Richie pulls back as soon as it happens. 

“What are you- I’m not in here to-”

“Oh my god, I’m sorry,” Eddie says, moving away and colliding with the closet door behind him. His skull thumps with a loud _crack_ , and then Richie is lunging forward to grip around his arms and hold him upright. 

Eddie stares at him a second, surprised at his own injury and what must be stinging pain, Richie knows pretty intimately since he just did the same thing, but then he’s exploding into a giggle fit, clutching at his stomach as he doubles over, and Richie wants to tell him they have to be quiet, that Bev and Ben are definitely going to catch them, but then Eddie shines up at him and Richie is helpless but to join right in. 

They’re grasping and laughing and Richie’s high on it, on the smile spread over Eddie’s face and the way this is just for them. 

Maybe he’s being too sensitive. It’s not like it _matters_. He’s newly out, and Eddie’s not even officially divorced. He knows keeping things quiet is for the best. They’ve talked about this. They’ve come to the same conclusion several times. 

Richie surges down through the laughter and the blush on Eddie’s face to press their lips together. He mostly gets Eddie’s teeth, but Richie loves that too, so he keeps pushing until Eddie leans into him. But when his hands find Eddie’s belt, Eddie gently pushes him back. 

“Wait, wait,” he says, wiping moisture from his mouth, and Richie wants to kiss him again, “I don’t want to do this here.”

“What?” 

Eddie looks shy, parallel lines of light streaking his face from the hall, through the slats in the door. 

“I don’t want- I don’t want to make you do this.” 

“Baby, I haven’t done _anything_ yet, just you wait,” Richie says, in his quietest, most sexiest voice possible, but Eddie spurns his advances once again. And after all those mental gymnastics. What a waste.

“No, Richie- it’s. I want to tell them.” Eddie huffs a breath and looks into his eyes. “I think we should tell them.”

“What- I mean.” Richie licks his lips. “Why now?” 

Eddie doesn’t even hesitate.

“Because I love you.” 

“Oh,” Richie says, neck prickling, mind going numb, legs threatening to give out, but Eddie moves forward to hold him up, to kiss gently at his cheek. 

“I want them to know.” Eddie tips down so Richie will look at him. Richie could never stop looking, not really. Not for long. “Is that okay?” 

Richie walks past him in a rush, bursting through the closet doors and out into the hall, and he’ll probably work this into his new special, but for now all he cares about is showing off his man. 

At least to his friends.

“Eddie Kaspbrak fucking loves me, ya Losers!” Richie yells. 

He hears Bev and Ben approaching from the kitchen, but whirls around instead just in time to see Eddie close the closet door between them.


End file.
